NCFCA Apologetics Myron C. Kauk Course Description This course is designed to prepare students to verbally explain and defend their Christian faith. The class will be guided in collaborative research on the one hundred apologetics questions participants must prepare for the apologetics speech event sponsored by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association (NCFCA). Students will practice presenting speeches on these topics as part of the class. As a result of this class, students will develop a knowledge of Christian apologetics and will improve both their research and speaking skills. Course Objectives By the end of this course, students should be able to Research topics in apologetics using electronic and print resources. Contribute to a wiki database of knowledge on apologetics. Present a well organized limited preparation speech with introduction and conclusion that incorporates various forms of evidence and argument. Provide answers to all 100 NCFCA apologetics questions. Recommended Materials No required textbook is listed for this course for the simple reason that there is no one textbook, or even two or three, that could adequately provide all the information students in this course will need. One of the main components of this course is research on the 100 NCFCA apologetics questions and students will need to use a variety of sources to complete this research. So, listed at MBSdirect are ten optional books you may want to consider. You are not expected to purchase all of these, although they would make an excellent library on apologetics if anyone could afford to do that. However, each family should select at least some of these books for purchase based upon your budget and the abilities of your student. We will be counting on different students having access to different resources so that the whole class can benefit from the research each individual does. The instructor will be supplementing these recommended books by pointing students to a variety of resources available on the internet. Students are also encouraged to make contact with the pastor of their church to see if they can borrow resources from his library and perhaps also to consult with him on some of the questions they are researching. Not all pastors will necessarily be willing or able to help in this way, but if they can, it will be a great help. The instructor envisions a collaborative partnership where the students work together as a class with the support of their families and their churches and with the instructor serving as an expert guide and coach to direct their research efforts. Provided below is an annotated list of the ten optional resources available at MBSdirect. Read through this list and consider which of these might be best suited to your student and your budget. Myron C. Kauk Page 1 8/29/2009
Ted Cabal, ed., The Apologetics Study Bible. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2007 [ISBN: 1-58640-024-X] The most basic tool that students will need for a course in apologetics is a Bible. Practically any English translation that you already have will be workable. The reason for recommending this particular Bible is the more than 130 articles on apologetics topics that are interspersed throughout the Bible, as well as countless notes on individual passages of Scripture that address the apologetics issues raised in those passages. Winfred Corduan, No Doubt About It. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1997 [ISBN: 0-8054- 1647-1] This is an excellent introductory text that may make a good summer reader if your student has not previously been exposed to apologetics. It addresses many of the topics we will address in class but does not have enough depth by itself to be the sole resource a student uses. Walter A. Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001 [ISBN: 0-8010-2075-1] This encyclopedia contains articles that are relevant to most of the questions we will address in class. It is not a text that students will likely want to read straight through from cover to cover though. As an alternative, consider the New Dictionary of Theology, edited by David F. Wright, Sinclair B. Ferguson, and J. I. Packer (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1988). Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998 [ISBN: 0-8010-2151-0] This encyclopedia is directed more specifically to apologetics and also contains articles that are relevant to most of the questions we will address in class. Note that Geisler is the author, not the editor of this work, which means that he has written every article in it. Geisler is a well respected source, but it is difficult for anyone to be an expert on so many different topics. Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, General Introduction to the Bible. Chicago: Moody, 1968 [ISBN: 0-8024-2916-5] This is an excellent, specialized resource for the questions under NCFCA category 2: the Scriptures. Don t make this the only book you purchase, but if you have a special interest in this topic, this is a valuable resource. It is available in an abridged form under the title From God to Us (Chicago: Moody, 1974) and beginning students may find this easier to read, but the larger more complete text is preferable. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994 [ISBN: 0-310-28670-0] Next to the Bible, the most indispensable tool that students will need for this course is a good systematic theology text. My recommendation is Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. All you have to do is read the dust cover to see that this text has been endorsed by scholars from diverse backgrounds including Wesleyan (Alan Coppedge), Reformed (Vern Poythress), Baptist (Paige Patterson), Dispensational (Robert Saucy), and Charismatic (Jack Hayford), as well as by such notables as J. I. Packer, Chuck Colson, and John Piper. Most would acknowledge that they do not agree with Grudem on every point, but praise him for being fair and accessible and for blending scholarship with devotional applications. Grudem starts most discussions with a brief definition and then gets quickly to considering relevant passages of Scripture without getting bogged down in theoretical discussions. He suggests Scripture memory verses and hymns to go with each chapter and cross references to the relevant sections in other major systematic Myron C. Kauk Page 2 8/29/2009
theologies of various persuasions. There is also a valuable appendix that prints many historic confessions of faith. This resource is highly recommended. But there are others that would also be workable. Among the better ones are Christian Theology by Millard Erickson (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns (Chicago: Moody, 1998), and Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996). Grudem is also available in an abridged form under the title Bible Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999) but the unabridged version is recommended because students will eventually want this and so it saves money in the long run. Ed Hinsdon and Ergun Caner, eds., The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2008 [ISBN: 0-7369-2084-6] This is another encyclopedia dealing specifically with apologetics topics. It contains articles from a variety of experts on most of the topics that will be addressed in this course. Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000 [ISBN: 0-7852-4363-1] This volume combines and updates McDowell s two earlier works, Evidence that Demands a Verdict and More Evidence That Demands a Verdict, so if you already have those texts you may not find it necessary to get this one. The format of this text is very similar to the wiki that students in this class will produce. It is written in outline form and consists mostly of quotations from other works or evidence along with documentation on the source of the quotation. So this will be a valuable text on the NCFCA apologetics questions that it addresses. Unfortunately, it does not address all of the questions that we will consider in this class. Kenneth Richard Samples, Without a Doubt. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004 [ISBN: 0-8010-6469-4] This is another excellent introductory text that may make a good summer reader if your student has not previously been exposed to apologetics. Like the Corduan text, it addresses many of the topics we will address in class but does not have enough depth by itself to be the sole resource a student uses. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1961 [ISBN: 0-06- 068412-7] This a specialized resource that will help only with the questions under NCFCA category 1: Existence and Nature of God, especially with the questions on the attributes of God. Don t make this the only book you purchase but for special help on the attributes of God, this is a valuable resource. As an alternative, J. I. Packer s Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 1973) would also be good here. Grading and Deadline Standards This is a two semester course. Each semester will receive its own letter grade First Semester Wiki Contributions There are 100 NCFCA apologetics questions and the class will work collaboratively to create answers to each of these during the first semester. This means researching an average of six or seven questions per week over the course of the first semester. Each student is expected to make some contribution on each question and since the whole class Myron C. Kauk Page 3 8/29/2009
is depending on the contribution of each individual student, falling behind on the schedule cannot be allowed without penalty. Working ahead is the preferred and acceptable way to compensate for weeks when you might have a conflict in your schedule. So plan ahead. Students will complete a quiz each week in which they self report about their Wiki contributions. Contributions to the Wiki will count 50% of the first semester grade Speeches Beginning in the second week of class, much of the class time will be occupied with speeches given by students online. For this reason, it is critical that students come to class prepared to speak and with working microphones every week. There will not be time for every student to speak every week, but students should come prepared to speak every week. In practice, students will probably have the opportunity to speak every second or third week and this may result in as many as seven or eight speeches during the first semester. Students who are absent from class or unprepared to speak will be passed over and may not receive a make up opportunity. Speeches will count 50% of the first semester grade. Second Semester Speech Outlines During the second semester the format of the class will change. Towards the end of the first semester the instructor will survey the students to ask which questions they feel are causing them the most difficulty. He will also evaluate the Wiki that the students have produced to see which questions appear to be weak. Based on these two measures, the instructor will lecture on as many of these difficult questions as possible during the second semester, probably no more than one or two a week. The students object during this time will be to improve their notes on these difficult questions. In order to measure this, students will turn in a one page speaking outline on one question per week during the second semester. These outlines should include an introduction, main points, and conclusion, plus evidence from Scripture and other sources. Thus students will be responsible to produce 16 of these one page outlines during the second semester, one per week. This will be 100% of the second semester grade. Week 1 15 September 2009 Introductory matters First Semester Schedule Week 2 22 September 2009 1. Explain the meaning and significance of the trinity. 2. Explain the meaning and significance of the omniscience of God. 3. Explain the meaning and significance of the omnipotence of God. 4. Explain the meaning and significance of the omnipresence of God. 5. Explain the meaning and significance of the transcendence of God. Myron C. Kauk Page 4 8/29/2009
6. Explain the meaning and significance of immanence of God. NCFCA Apologetics Week 3 29 September 2009 7. Explain the meaning and significance of the eternality of God. 8. Explain the meaning and significance of the immutability of God. 9. Explain the meaning and significance of the infinite nature of God. 10. Explain the meaning and significance of the holiness of God. 11. Explain the meaning and significance of the righteousness of God. 12. Explain the meaning and significance of the justice of God. Week 4 6 October 2009 13. Explain the meaning and significance of the sovereignty of God. 14. Explain the meaning and significance of the mercy of God. 15. Explain the meaning and significance of the grace of God. 16. In what ways had God revealed Himself to man? 17. If God is real, why can t people see or touch Him? 18. If God is holy, why did He allow sin in the world? Week 5 13 October 2009 19. How can God be both merciful and just? 20. How can God be one and yet three (unity versus trinity)? 21. Open theology states that God is constantly changing and growing with His creation. Respond to this Biblically. Myron C. Kauk Page 5 8/29/2009
22. Open theology states that God is constantly growing and changing with His creation. Respond to this logically and pragmatically. 23. Why is the unchanging nature of God critical to who He is? 24. Analyze and respond to the statement, The existence of God and of the future life is everywhere recognized in Africa. David Livingstone NCFCA Apologetics Week 6 20 October 2009 25. Analyze and respond to the statement, The Old Testament God is a God of hate while the New Testament God is a God of love. 26. Analyze and respond to the statement, Gods are fragile things. They may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense. Chapman Cohen 27. Analyze and respond to the statement, If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him. Voltaire 28. Analyze and respond to the statement, What we believe about God is the most important thing about us. A. W. Tozer 29. Analyze and respond to the statement, God is merely an impersonal force in the universe. He is untouchable and unapproachable. 30. Analyze and respond to the statement, God set the universe in motion but He has no interest in it. Week 7 27 October 2009 31. Analyze and respond to the statement, If God understands my humanity and sin nature better than I do, why does He still hold me accountable for what I cannot help doing? 32. Explain the meaning and significance of inerrancy. 33. Explain the meaning and significance of verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture. 34. Explain the meaning and significance of divine inspiration. 35. Explain the meaning and significance of Biblical canon. 36. Explain the meaning and significance of higher criticism and lower criticism. Myron C. Kauk Page 6 8/29/2009
Week 8 3 November 2009 37. Jesus clearly demonstrated His belief in the authority of Scriptures. Defend this statement with evidence. 38. If the Bible was written by men, how could it also be written by God? 39. How did the church decide what should be included in the canon of Scripture? 40. How can the Bible be trustworthy when it has been translated so many times? 41. What is the foundation for accurate Bible translation? 42. Provide evidence for the historical accuracy of the Bible. Week 9 10 November 2009 43. Analyze and respond to the statement, No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means. George Bernard Shaw 44. Analyze and respond to the statement, The Bible is no different than any other holy book. 45. Analyze and respond to the statement, The Bible is simply the work of a great conspiracy, where people sought to create a religion of their own. 46. Analyze and respond to the statement, The Old Testament is merely a set of myths made up by the Jewish people to establish a national identity and give themselves a feeling of superiority. 47. Explain the meaning and significance of the image of God. 48. Explain the meaning and significance of the depravity of man. Week 10 17 November 2009 49. Explain the meaning and significance of original sin. 50. Explain the meaning and significance of the sin nature. Myron C. Kauk Page 7 8/29/2009
51. Explain the meaning and significance of sanctification. NCFCA Apologetics 52. Explain the meaning and significance of repentance. 53. Explain the meaning and significance of regeneration. 54. Do all men have a longing for God? Week 11 1 December 2009 55. Do all men have a conscience? 56. If God is invisible (1 Timothy 1:17) how can man be made in the image of God? 57. If man is inherently sinful, why do most men lead relatively good lives? 58. What is the purpose of man? 59. What is the destiny of man? 60. Why would a loving God create hell? Week 12 8 December 2009 61. What is the essential duty of man? 62. What is meant by the fall of man? 63. Evaluate and respond to the following statement, All men were born with ten fingers and toes but no one was born with the knowledge of God. Voltaire 64. Evaluate and respond to the following statement, whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7 65. Evaluate and respond to the following statement, Heaven is only a state of mind. 66. Evaluate and respond to the following statement, He s only human. (as a justification for sin and the need for leniency). Myron C. Kauk Page 8 8/29/2009
Week 13 15 December 2009 67. Evaluate and respond to the following statement, When a man dies, he simply ceases to exist. There is no immortality or eternal life. 68. Explain the meaning and significance of justification. 69. Explain the meaning and significance of atonement. 70. Explain the meaning and significance of propitiation. 71. Explain the meaning and significance of redemption. 72. How can a man know God? Week 14 5 January 2010 73. Can a man become right with God by keeping the Ten Commandments? 74. Isn t it narrow minded to believe there is only one way to heaven? 75. Why does man need salvation? 76. Analyze and respond to the following statement, It doesn t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. 77. Analyze and respond to the following statement, There are many roads to God. 78. Analyze and respond to the following statement, Every charitable act is a stepping stone to heaven. Henry Ward Beecher 79. Analyze and respond to the following statement, I commune best with God when I am out in nature. I don t need organized religion or a list of do s and don ts. Week 15 12 January 2010 80. Analyze and respond to the following statement, I know that all the good vibes he sent out will return to carry him off to a better place. Comment made after the death of Bob Hope. Myron C. Kauk Page 9 8/29/2009
81. Analyze and respond to the following statement, Christianity is the opiate of the masses. Karl Marx 82. Analyze and respond to the following statement, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. 83. What is the meaning and significance of the deity of Christ? 84. What is the meaning and significance of the virgin birth? 85. What is the meaning and significance of the Incarnation? 86. What is the meaning and significance of Jesus claim that He is the Son of Man? Week 16 19 January 2010 87. What is the meaning and significance of Jesus claim the He is the son of God? 88. What is the meaning and significance of Jesus as Mediator? 89. What is the meaning and significance of Jesus as the Messiah? 90. What is the meaning and significance of Jesus as the Word of God? 91. What is the meaning and significance of Jesus as the Lamb of God? 92. Why is the resurrection essential to the Christian faith? 93. If God is infinite, how could He limit Himself in the person of Christ? Week 17 26 January 2010 94. How could Jesus be both God and man? 95. Why did Jesus have to die to provide salvation for men? 96. What evidence is there for the historical existence of Jesus? 97. What evidence is there for the resurrection of Jesus? 98. Did Jesus attain deity by His sacrificial death or was He God from the beginning? Myron C. Kauk Page 10 8/29/2009
99. Analyze and respond to the following statement, Jesus life and death are merely examples to us that we should all live sacrificial lives. 100. Analyze and respond to the following statement, Jesus was a good man and a good teacher but certainly not the Son of God. Second Semester Schedule Week 1 2 February 2010 Week 2 9 February 2010 Week 3 23 February 2010 Week 4 2 March 2010 Week 5 9 March 2010 Week 6 16 March 2010 Week 7 23 March 2010 Week 8 30 March 2010 Week 9 13 April 2010 Myron C. Kauk Page 11 8/29/2009
Week 10 20 April 2010 Week 11 27 April 2010 Week 12 4 May 2010 Week 13 11 May 2010 Week 14 18 May 2010 Week 15 25 May 2010 Week 16 1 June 2010 Myron C. Kauk Page 12 8/29/2009